For Those We Love
by DaughteroftheRedKing
Summary: One-shot AU. Axel didn't think he could love these kids any more than he already did, even if he tried. (Rated K for fluff) (Platonic AkuRokuShi)


**A/N: Welcome, my lovely little readers! Another KH one-shot, this time moving away from all Sora to focus on our second/third favourite trio, AkuRokuShi! It's all platonic (even though I am an AkuRoku fan) and we all love modern setting where all the bad stuff isn't happening to them, right?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. It belongs to Square Enix and Disney (i think)**

* * *

The apartment was quiet as Axel entered, quietly closing the door behind him. He listened for a moment, trying to pick up any sound that may indicate he had disturbed the occupants, then relaxed when he heard nothing.

He headed to the kitchen, quietly lowering the plastic bags full of food onto the counter and starting to put the food away in the fridge and cupboards. He grabbed himself a beer, headed to his room, and sat himself infront of his laptop as he began to work. Eventually, having finished the document and sent it off to his boss, he wandered over to his bed and collapsed onto it, asleep in minutes.

The next morning, he woke up with a wide yawn, glancing up at his clock and realising the alarm hadn't gone off. He would have panicked, but he was beyond caring, and simply pushed himself off his bed. He grabbed a fresh shirt, washed his face, then headed out.

Two smaller heads glanced up at him as he made his appearance, matching grins working their way onto their faces.

"Axel!" they cried happily together, leaping at him and hugging him tightly.

"Morning guys. You're up a bit late, aren't you going to miss school?" he noted.

They giggled. "It's the weekend, silly," Xion said, swinging his arm.

"That means you don't have to work either, right? Can we go somewhere today?" asked Roxas.

Axel blinked, having not realised it was already Saturday, then smiled. "Well, that depends. Where do you want to go?" he asked.

"The zoo!" they declared together - which was odd, because Roxas hated the zoo and Xion preferred the aquarium.

"...Are you sure?" he asked again, confused. They nodded eagerly, and he sighed. "Well, if you say so. Have you had breakfast yet? I'll make you some eggs or something-"

"No! You go get ready, we'll make you breakfast," Xion insisted, the two of them pushing him back to his room despite his surprised protests. Eventually he gave a laugh, caving in and heading back to his room, only partially closing the door so he could keep an eye on them.

Xion and Roxas were, specifically, his younger siblings. It was complicated, but basically his father had had Axel, before splitting with his wife when Axel was thirteen and marrying another woman who had a son from a different marriage, who was two. They had a daughter together pretty soon after, but their mother was the type of woman who wanted her own freedom and lots of pampering, so while his father worked in a good job and she spent a lot of money, Axel looked after his two younger siblings.

At first, he'd hated it. He'd been at the point in his life where he wanted his own life as well, wanted to go out and play with his friends, or go on the PlayStation or Xbox and stuff, but being saddled with his younger siblings meant his social life practically vanished. He'd had a lot of arguments with his step-mother about her raising her own kids, but it had usually ended with either a slap from her or a stern word from his father.

The two of them didn't know that. Frankly, they'd adored him. Roxas, especially, clung to him and Xion learned from example to do the same. Unable to change his situation, he'd adjusted to it, and slowly he'd come to love them back. His anger was at his parents, not them, and he cared for them as best he could while his parents refused to.

As such, when they both died in a car crash when Axel was seventeen, the three of them barely noticed. There was a funeral and the kids cried a bit, but they got over it quickly and Axel was soon taking care of them as he had before, except he now had to bring the money in. Their various relatives helped them to settle - though mostly on his uncles and aunt on his mother's side - and there was plenty of money in the savings for them to move to a smaller apartment, sell the old house and get some extra money, and survive until Axel found a good enough job.

That had happened when Xion was three and Roxas was five. Now they were eight and ten, respectively. They'd matured a lot, though while Roxas was prone to slacking off in school, Xion showed her smarts and was one of the few grade-A students (or would be when they finally started grading her). They also had plenty of friends to hang around with outside of school, though Axel had only met a few of them; Xion had become fast friends with a shy little girl called Naminé and her twin Kairi, while Roxas was grudging friends with Sora in Xion's year and Riku in his.

He heard a crash and Xion hissing, "Roxas!", and poked his head out the door.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Nothing!" they chorused together, both bent behind the counter and hidden as they tried to clear whatever had happened.

"If it's glass, leave it and move away. I don't want you cutting yourselves," he said.

They looked up guiltily then moved away, Xion grabbing another glass and carefully setting it down. Axel rolled his eyes then retreated back into his room, gelling his hair into their usual wild spikes and grinning to himself in the mirror. The teardrop tattoos beneath his eyes were prominent, and he traced them a moment before turning as his door was pushed open.

Roxas wandered in with Xion just behind him, carrying a tray unsteadily and holding it up for Axel. "It's breakfast in bed," he declared, and Axel laughed before taking the tray from him.

"I'm not in bed though, am I," he pointed out.

Xion gasped as if this had only just occured to her and was the most horrific thing that could have happened, while Roxas rolled his eyes.

"Breakfast in your bedroom, then. But you've gotta eat it, because Xion made the eggs," he explained.

"You let Xion handle the cooker?"

"Roxas broke a cup, and you're worried about me?" asked Xion in a rare moment of sarcasm - they were the only things that reminded him she wasn't still his precious five year old sister who had to be protected from everything in the world.

"I suppose not. Alright, but you guys better eat too," he said.

"I already made more," Xion replied.

"Can we eat in here with you?" asked Roxas.

Axel figured just going back out to the kitchen would make him carrying the tray in here without dropping it pointless. "Sure," he said instead, and the two of them grinned before heading out to get their plates and bring them into his room.

As he waited for them to return before eating, instead taking a drink from his juice - obviously the reason they'd broken the cup - he wondered what warranted all this special attention. So far as he could remember, nothing special was going on today...

Then the two of them returned, sitting down at his desk after he moved his laptop and starting to chat to him, pushing it from his mind.

* * *

There was a brief argument between Roxas and Xion as they both wanted to sit in the front next to Axel, but eventually Roxas won out because he was older and bigger, and Xion grumpily moved to the back middle seat so she could continue to pester him.

It would have been distracting to have the two of them nattering right next to his ear if he wasn't already used to it. They did it practically every time - Roxas was nice enough to let Xion sit in the front a fair number of times, though still acted grumpy about it - and it'd just gotten to a point that no matter how often he told them to stop, they continued, so he didn't bother anymore.

Finally they reached Twilight Zoo, and he parked the car before waiting until the two kids had scrambled out of the car and were running to the entrance gate before locking it and following. They eagerly bounced at the back of the line, attracting a few odd looks from the other parents there before Axel came behind them and they turned into small smiles. Axel glanced down at them, ruffling their hair.

"Slow down a little. People'll get suspicious if you're wandering around without me," he said.

They nodded, eventually reaching the gate where Axel paid for their entry and they headed through. Unexpectedly, the kids didn't run off, instead hanging back with Axel.

"Don't you guys want to look at the animals?" asked Axel, glancing at them.

"What do you wanna see?" asked Xion, looking up at him.

Axel considered. "Maybe we should go see the monkeys first - they might want you two back," he grinned.

Roxas rolled his eyes as Xion gave a giggle, the two of them grabbing his arms and pulling him over to monkey's cages. They spent a while looking around all the animals, Xion desperately looking for the snow leopard but eventually having to leave, and an elephant deciding Axel's hair was some sort of treat. Luckily he was able to quick fix it, but he was still sour and his mood was only made worse by Xion and Roxas laughing.

Eventually the two kids demanded they eat, and so Axel took them to one of the many food areas in the zoo. Xion wanted to pay, but Roxas pointed out they didn't bring any money, so they grudgingly let Axel pay for the food - despite the fact he'd offered in the first place, and usually did anyway.

Their behaviour was starting to confuse him, especially as he sometimes caught Roxas zoning out or looking bored when he thought no one was looking and Xion was oozing forced enthusiasm, which was almost worse.

A few things slowly pieced together in his mind as they ate - such as the fact that he actually really liked the zoo, and had commented on it a couple of times. They had decided to do it because _he _liked it, but that still didn't answer why. He was almost getting worried.

After watching Xion and Roxas arguing over the last satchel of ketchup, he sighed and interrupted them. "Guys, what's going on," he asked flatly.

They glanced at each other, as if debating whether to tell him, then zipped their lips and giggled. Axel sighed, deciding he could play along for now so long as no one got hurt.

The three of them eventually finished their food, heading back out to look at the more domesticated animals. Why goats and llamas were such an interesting thing in a zoo when you could find goats on a farm (llamas too, depending where you went) was beyond them, but it was nice watching them, Axel guessed. Roxas was cheering one of the goats who kept headbutting another one on while Xion stroked a llamas head, and Axel wished he had another pair of eyes so that he could watch both of them in case they got in trouble.

Finally they asked what time it was, at which Axel promptly replied, and they grinned at each other before grabbing his wrists and pulling him towards the edge of the zoo.

"Hey, careful! Where are we going?" he asked as they nearly barrelled into an old woman.

"It's a surprise!" they echoed together, laughing at Axel's exasperated expression.

They passed through the exit gate, apparently not interested in the gift shop or any of the attractions around it, and led him back to his car. There, they waited until he unlocked it before scrambling in - Xion in the front this time - and waited until he had reversed out of the car park and was driving back towards their apartment.

"Alright guys, what's going on? Seriously," Axel asked, glancing in the rear-view mirror.

"Can we go to Auntie Aqua's?" asked Xion instead, and he glanced down at her before sighing.

"Are you wanting to go there as well, Roxas?" he asked.

"Yeah!"

"Alright."

He turned onto a different road, starting to where Aqua lived. Technically, she wasn't related to him; her and her brother Ventus had been Roxas and Xion's mother's siblings - confusing, I know - and she, Ventus, and Terra had all helped the three kids to get settled into their lives without their parents. As such, they'd grown pretty close, especially seeing as Roxas pretty much looked like a mini Ventus.

"So why are we having this sudden visit?" asked Axel as they got closer, hoping they'd finally be willing to give him answers.

"Because," Roxas replied infuriatingly.

"Because..."

"We want to!" Xion said with a grin.

Axel groaned and gave up. They weren't usually this stubborn, so it must be something important for them to hold out this long.

They finally reached the house, pulling up on the pavement infront of the house. Terra and Aqua's cars were on the drive as usual, and Axel realised Ventus' car was also parked on the road. Huh, pretty lucky they were there when Ven was too...then again, the blond was extremely close with the his sister and who he considered his older brother, so he supposed it made sense for Ven to be here.

The kids clambered out of the car, waiting for Axel as he locked it before turning to him.

"You have to close your eyes," Roxas said.

"And no peeking!" Xion added seriously.

Axel sighed but did as he was told, waiting until they were happy he did have his eyes closed before they grabbed his wrists and pulled him to the house. He did trip over one of the abandoned plant pots Terra kept forgetting to move - of the two of them, it was him who enjoyed gardening more - but other than that there were no mishaps.

What surprised Axel was when they just walked in without knocking or waiting for someone to answer the door. They weren't rude enough to do something like that, unless the group were expected...

"Alright, wait here. And don't open your eyes!" Xion insisted before the two of them ran off, whispering to each other. Axel remained where he was, wanting desperately to sneak a peek but knowing Xion wouldn't be happy with him if he did. Resolutely, he pushed away the temptation, hands in his pockets as he grew increasingly curious.

"Alright, you can open them," Roxas said, and Axel opened his eyes just as they leapt at him and shouted, "Surprise!" together. He was momentarily confused by this, until he saw their aunt and uncles standing at the end of the room laughing and a table covered in food in the middle of the room.

"Am I missing something here?" Axel asked finally, glancing around.

Xion pouted. "It's your birthday, silly! Don't you remember?" she asked.

"You didn't know for the whole day? No wonder you were being weird," Roxas sighed.

Axel blinked, then reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, checking the date. Sure enough, it was June 8th, his birthday.

"I didn't even realise...Guess that shows how much attention I pay," he chuckled, slipping his phone back into his pocket.

"Well, you have to eats lots of food and cake, okay? And then we have presents for you to open," Xion instructed.

"Auntie Aqua and Uncle Ven helped us pick them out, but we chose them," Roxas explained.

Axel smiled, pulling them both into a one-armed hug. "Thanks guys," he said quietly, and they grinned.

* * *

**A/N: C'mon, you didn't think I'd fully get rid of our other two favourite trios, did you?**

**So, anyway, fluffyness! I don't know how well I wrote this to be honest, I find it hard to write fluff without angst mentioned as well...**

**Review?**


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